Catering to Chicago's carless generation

Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune

Changes in the zoning code, to be considered by the City Council next month, could add housing for up to 100,000 people within a half-mile of mass transit stations in 20 years, according to a Metropolitan Planning Council analysis.

Changes in the zoning code, to be considered by the City Council next month, could add housing for up to 100,000 people within a half-mile of mass transit stations in 20 years, according to a Metropolitan Planning Council analysis.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to promote development near transit stations sounds like a great idea to Chicago's growing carless population. The people who still get around on four wheels are not so sure.

Changes in the zoning code, to be considered by the City Council next month, could add housing for up to 100,000 people within a half-mile of mass transit stations in 20 years, according to a Metropolitan Planning Council analysis.

They'd live in apartments steps away from CTA or Metra stops, with bike-sharing stations right outside their buildings, shops and restaurants within walking distance — and no parking spaces required. None.

Fewer cars? Great.

More bicycles? Yikes. The only thing scarier than driving alongside one of Chicago's designated bike lanes is driving on a street without one.

The big sticking point, though, is the parking. Some of those apartment dwellers are going to have cars. Most of them will have occasional guests. Residents who struggle to find parking in their neighborhoods are afraid things will only get worse.

We get it. But if Chicago is going to grow, it has to find ways to welcome more residents without putting more cars on the streets.

Since 2013, Chicago has offered incentives to developers to build close to train stops. Projects within 600 feet of a station have to provide only one parking space for every two housing units, for example. That's half what is typically required in the city.

Under the mayor's proposed ordinance, projects that include parking space for one bicycle per unit — plus an on-site station for bike-rentals (like Divvy) or car shares (like Zipcar) — wouldn't have to provide any off-street parking for cars.

Developers could build more or bigger units, instead of devoting real estate to parking spaces. They'd be allowed to build taller, too, if they add units that qualify as affordable housing.

To be eligible for the incentives, projects would have to be within a quarter-mile of a transit stop, or a half-mile if they're along mostly retail blocks designated as "pedestrian streets."

Eight residential projects — the city says they're worth $132 million — have taken advantage of the existing incentives to build around transit stops. Developers obviously recognize a market.

The expanded ordinance wouldn't prohibit developers from providing parking; it allows them to provide as little as they think the market will bear. But you might be surprised to know how many Chicagoans would be happy to forgo a parking space.

In Lakeview, 38 percent of renters within a quarter-mile of a Red Line stop don't own a car, according to the planning council. It's 52 percent in Hyde Park, 58 percent in Uptown, 47 percent in Rogers Park. (Traffic, by the way, is down from a decade ago. It only seems worse.)

Meanwhile, there's a shortage of affordable rentals in some of the city's most popular neighborhoods, where apartments have been replaced by single-family homes.

The planning council says Emanuel's proposed ordinance could allow up to 70,000 more units whose occupants would spend $450 million a year and pay $200 million in sales, property and transfer taxes. They'd provide a big boost to the transit system, instead of promoting gridlock.

Chicago was built around its transit system but grew away from the train lines as more car-centric habits took hold. That pattern coincided with the city's long population slide, from its peak at 3.6 million in 1950 to 2.7 million in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

But the latest census numbers also revealed a striking trend: While Chicago lost nearly 200,000 residents citywide from 2000 to 2010, the population within a 2-mile radius of City Hall increased by 48,288, or 36 percent.

The newcomers are largely young, educated and professional. They come for the jobs, yes, but also for the city's lakefront, its sports teams, its nightlife. They want an urban lifestyle that doesn't come with a car. Chicago doesn't have enough places for them to live.

It makes sense to house them near transit, with shopping and entertainment within walking distance. If these new Chicagoans can't build their lives close to the train stops, they're going to find they need a car after all.